Under the best conditions, this figure could scale up to US$17 billion if the demand for money exceeds 1% of GDP. What Milei said about the 'bands' scheme Milei revealed when the exchange rate bands will be eliminated and defended economic openness. During an interview with Bloomberg agency in Davos, President Javier Milei expressed his satisfaction with the current floating dollar exchange rate scheme and revealed when these bands will be removed. He said that 'the exchange rate within the band is free' and will be fully liberalized once the BCRA has finished 'cleaning up the excess monetary supply' from the economy. In another part of the interview, the head of state defended economic openness and questioned protectionist arguments, stating that making goods more expensive to 'protect jobs' harms society as a whole. 'When you open the economy, some products go down in price. The price of gold is on the rise, hitting historical highs. It has surpassed US$4,900 per ounce, and the BCRA holds nearly 2 million troy ounces. The Central Bank has already made purchases of US$80 million, so it does not vary much in the net level of reserves. The largest purchase was made on January 14 (when US$187 million was acquired). This is why some analysts and private estimates predict that the central financial body operated outside that allowed 5%. For 2026, it is expected that the BCRA will acquire up to US$10 billion with a possible increase in the monetary base to 4.8% of GDP (currently at 4.2%). Buenos Aires, Jan 22 (NA) -- The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) continues to purchase reserves, adding US$80 million more and bringing the reserves to US$45.399 billion. According to the Argentine News Agency, the financial entity continues the line made at the beginning of 2026, when it presented 'phase 4' of the current monetary program. This program, among other points, sets a daily limit for the BCRA to acquire dollars from the Free Exchange Market (MLC): it can only buy up to 5% of the traded volume. 'The daily execution amount of the reserve accumulation program will be aligned with a 5% participation of the daily volume of the foreign exchange market. The BCRA can carry out block purchases that could otherwise affect the proper functioning and stability of the market,' said Santiago Bausili, president of the Central Bank. In this context, it has been 14 consecutive rounds of reserve purchases. Today, US$80 million more was acquired, exceeding the US$900 million bought in January. The Central Bank bought US$80 million. Photo: Agencia NA / Redes: @BancoCentral_AR This caused the reserves to end at US$45.399 billion. Compared to Wednesday, they rose by US$322 million. Not only the purchase of dollars, but also the value of precious metals also plays a key role in the increase in reserves. Employment may be lost in one sector, but that savings is spent in another and generates work where people really demand it,' he explained.
